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| CHRIS FARLOWE-Paint It Black/What Have I Been Doing U.S. Immediate ZS7 5002 1968 |
Poor Chris Farlowe, he hit the #1 spot in England in June 1966 with a cover of the Stone's "Out Of Time" (after previously having a halfway decent go at their "Think" on U.K. Immediate IM 023 in January 1966). Some genius at Immediate records decided that they'd try again with other Stones numbers and he released covers of "Ride On Baby" (UK Immediate IM 038 in October '66), "Yesterday's Papers" (U.K. Immediate IM 049 May 1967) and "Paint It Black" (U.K. Immediate IM 071 July 1968). But sadly he never had another hit and all of them were flops (he also cut "I'm Free" on his debut U.K. Immediate LP "The Art Of Chris Farlowe" IMLP 006 1966).
His American Immediate output was quite slim actually, just three singles and an LP (in the U.K. with Immediate he managed 3 LP's, 2 E.P's and a staggering 13 singles). "Out Of Time" was actually issued here on MGM (K 13567 August 1966 ) alongside a single by his Immediate label mates Twice As Much (who actually had two U.S. Immediate singles on MGM). Curiously "Paint It Black" was his first U.S. release on Immediate (ZS 7 5002) in November 1967 with Twice As Much's "You're So Good To Me" on the flip. After a failure with a stab at "Handbags And Gladrags" here on Immediate (ZS7 5005 in February 1968) they released today's release, which would be his last here on Immediate.
Farlowe's reading of "Paint It Black" never did much for me. Art Greenslade's strings add an odd "Fiddler On The Roof" vibe to it that's just too schmaltzy for these ears and let's be honest folks you don't fuck with the classics, unless of course you're Otis Redding, which Chris Farlowe was not. His vocals, like quite a few of his Immediate releases are out of his range causing some cringe worthy portions. Next....
The flip side, "What Have I Been Doing" was originally issued in England as the flip to his incredible raga meets soul reading of "Moanin" (Immediate IM 056 June 1967)."What Have I Been Doing" is a fairly mundane ballad with some nifty little sitars and acoustic guitar in the back ground that make it interesting and brings Donovan's "Ferris Wheel" to mind or something off the first Humble Pie album. I will have to say it's grown on me quite recently!
Both sides are available on Farlowe's CD set "Out Of Time:The Immediate Anthology" and on streaming.
Hear "Paint It Black":
Hear "What Have I Been Doing":
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